Over 10 years ago now, I did this drawing of Hinata from Naruto Shippuden with inked black hair like a curtain.

It fascinates me when black hair is drawn like a black banner or ribbon with no highlights or strand lines, however I’ve not drawn it this way many times – I always want to put unnecessary detail into the areas that are not needed. Today, I suddenly… just felt the urge to draw both a vampire baring its fangs (as I was listening to ‘vampire dairies’ by mgk) and hair flyaways – because this is always fun to draw (and I always forget them).

This is the result. I’m actually pretty in love with how it turned out. It might end up in a new era of art for me, for better or for worse. I guess I will see there it goes.

I finally managed to produce a piece of art from Clip Studio Paint on the iPad! I have been struggling so hard with it, but for some reason the ‘Munepen’ brush just clicked today – it really feels like using a pencil! I also turned off the time lapse recording since it was making my iPad lag – there’s probably a way I can fix this, but currently I’m not too bothered by it and don’t want to be spending the time doing that when I could be doing other things.

Instagram Post: Art Post

For my last act of Halloween (I’m really squeezing this in while it’s still 31 October in other timezones), I desperately try to complete a months-old WIP which has frankly been languishing in my Procreate. This one is of Dima and Casey from “By The Pint” by Jemma Croft!

I loved this book when I read it back in July this year. Such fun characters, such a great story, and such an emotional journey. I remember staying up way too late reading, just because I needed to know how it ended (tear my heart out, why don’t you). It still has me in its grips 3 months later, so it sticks with you. I need to write up a proper review for this book; when I can think straight.

I was feeling ambitious and I had wanted to draw two sets of chibis, but I was already flagging by the time I completed the first so the second was a bit rushed and less detail/care was unfortunately put into that set than the first. I had looked at some art by another fanartist earlier in the day and liked their style, so I had tried to emulate it a little in the second set. I don’t think I succeeded, honestly.

“By The Pint” is the third book in the “Fantasy Flatmates” series by Jemma Croft.

Instagram Post: Art Post
Read the book here: Amazon Series Page

There were lots of amazing recommendations for the spooky season over at the “Small but Mighty MM Romance” Facebook group recently. I realised some of these are available on hoopla, as I recognised some of the authors – hoopla is a great help when I’m on a budget crunch!

I have membership at two different council’s libraries so that gives me access to 20 borrows a month – why not give them to indie authors? The only issue is now I have 21 days to read them all (staggered). I have an upcoming trip however, so hopefully a solid chunk of time to read while I just sit on a plane. Also, you know what, I’m okay with continuing to read spooky stories in November too.

Some authors and their books on hoopla (availability depends on your library):

K.L. Noone

Recommended books: “Elemental”, “Love Across the Seasons” (including “October by Candlelight” and “An October Question”), “The Ninepenny Element” (FF), “Storm Point, “The Prestley Ghost”

I love K.L.’s author voice and the warm feels their books I’ve read (so far) give me. I was lucky enough to win one of her giveaways in the FB group during the birthday celebrations; so I definitely must follow that up with the others in the… series? Collection? Set?

Other recommendations “Storm Point” and “The Prestley Ghost” (released 18 Oct 2025) aren’t on Hoopla, so I’ll need to get myself a copy of that soon!

Instagram, Author Website

Ellie Thomas

Recommended books: “The Monk’s Lair”, “The Unquiet House”, “Heart of Stone”

I’m enjoying Ellie’s books a lot! The stories themselves might not be long page-count-wise but they are dense with detail and intrigue; and Sam and Christian are just a couple that tickles my brain in just the right way. “Heart of Stone” isn’t on hoopla (released on 25 Oct 2025) – I’ll probably end up buying this to continue their adventures.

Author Website

Holly Day

Recommended books: “A Jumble of Emotions”, “A Vampire Chew Toy”, “When At War With Witches”

Earlier this year I’d slowly been working through Holly’s catalogue on Hoopla. Everything I’ve read so far has been conceptually interesting and a lot of fun. “A Jumble of Emotions” was only released on 18 Oct 2025, I’m excited to get stuck in.

Instagram, Author Website

Mere Rain

Recommended books: “Dark Arts for Bright Hearts”, “Secrets of Love and Time”, “Tricks with Cats and Dogs”, “In the Dark Heart of Winter” (FF)

I first came across Mere when she gave away a short story to those who pre-ordered the “Love is Magic” charity anthology! I’ve borrowed the recommendations, and they’re ready to go.

Author Website?

Karenna Colcroft

Recommended book: “Hooch and Howls”

This prequel was not at all what I had been expecting, since I didn’t read the blurb before I started. There’s nothing wrong with a good MMM – though the decisions made by the MCs throughout this story were certainly a choice. It looks like I’ll have to switch over to KU to read the rest!

Instagram, Author Website

Alexa Piper

Recommended books: “The Doctor’s Wolf”, “Vampire in Love”

Alexa’s book covers are always cool AF, as an art-enjoyer. I’d definitely seen her books come up before when browsing around Hoopla’s tags.

It’s time to break Alexa off my TBR and get to reading!

Instagram, Author Website

Ofelia Gränd

Recommended book: “Soul Eater”

What’s not to love about paranormal investigations? This book is only the first in a series so I’m bound to want to read the second and third books after this.

The series is not ‘collected’ though, so I might have missed that if I hadn’t looked it up, the following books are “Mind Scrambler” and “Ghost Dater”.

Instagram, Author Website

Tinnean

Recommended book: “Destiny’s End”

I know absolutely nothing about this one, but look – the cover entranced me, those big blue eyes. So sue me!!

It sounds like quite the relationship triangle, and what a twisted web we weave!

Author Website?

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It’s 45% off eBooks at JMS Books right now, until November 1 – so I’ll probably be squeezing my planned purchases in as soon as I can.

Note: This is not a sponsored post, I just wanted to post about reads I found on hoopla and show some appreciation for a useful library service.

Instagram Post: Recommendation Post
Check out hoopla: hoopla digital

Despite looking forward to it for the last couple of weeks, I almost didn’t make it to Newcastle Pride Fair this weekend. The reason? Trackwork.

The setup

I first heard about Newcastle Pride Fair on Threads, from Swoon Bookstore. Both were new to me, and I was originally just excited to consider that there might be a (relatively) local bookstore selling indie authors’ books. It turns out they’re mainly an online operation at the moment, but looking to open a storefront at some point. Regardless, they were hosting a stall at Newcastle Pride Fair in a couple of weeks’ time, and I wanted to go and check out what they would have for sale.

However, it just so happened that this very same weekend, there was trackwork from Gordon to Newcastle, which meant a fairly comfortable 2 hour train ride, became a relatively uncomfortable bus ride that could be a very variable 2 hours. When I noticed this last night, I had immediately decided not to go at all, not wanting to have to deal with that whole rigamorale.

My partner tried to talk some sense into me in the morning over breakfast – the train replacement buses are usually coaches (therefore more comfortable than the usual kind), I had really been looking forward to this, and he wanted some personal time anyway. So, regardless of the hour (it was coming close to 1PM already), I set off on my way north to Newcastle.

Getting there

The bus ride to Newcastle took longer than expected, and I fell asleep for a lot of the trip – as I am wont to do in those kinds of vehicles these days. Getting off at Newcastle Interchange, I checked the Newcastle Pride Fair website… only to realise I should probably have got off 2 ‘stops’ earlier at Hamilton or Broadmeadow.

At that point I wasn’t keen to get back on the bus, so I just looked up the distance and what route to take, and set off – stopping to take photos of things here and there as I walked. Having never really been to Newcastle proper, it felt like a completely new place, and yet completely familiar as well – I was still in New South Wales after all, just that all the Newcastle Council street signs were different.

At the event

I finally made it to Gregson Park at around 3.20PM and hesitantly walked into the event which was in full swing. People milled about everywhere in groups, but it wasn’t crowded except in front of the stage. I think I was self conscious not because I thought I would be judged or something, but more for being there on my own – as opposed to everyone else who seemed to be there in friend or family groups.

After a bit of wandering, I finally located the Swoon stall… to discover that Seth Haddon was still signing! I had noticed either last night or this morning that Seth was going to be signing books at the stall, but hadn’t really paid attention to the times – since I hadn’t really a plan for when I would be there. It was a delightful surprise however, and after being my awkward self I walked away with a couple of his books, bookmarks, and an art pack. It was definitely the highlight of my week.

I always feel insane when I meet authors (all of a handful of times). I forget everything that I want to say and/or I clam up and can’t say anything at all. I end up coming back for a ‘round 2’ because I would have forgotten something…etc. I feel like I’m always making a fool of myself in front of authors, though they probably don’t think as hard about our interaction as I do.

I had seen Swoon promoting “An Appreciation of Cats” by Des DeVivo previously, so I picked up this book at the same time. I saw a bunch of other authors’ books being sold at the stall, but I didn’t know how I would choose and with my budget in mind also, I ended up passing on them for the moment. I will definitely need to purchase more from Swoon in the future and keep an eye on any future events they might be either hosting or going to?

Aftermath

I stayed at the fair a bit more, wandering through more of the stalls and stopping to watch the performances and show at the stage. It was fun, even though I was on my own in a sea of people. I definitely think I will come again – hopefully with a bit more preparation, without the rail replacement buses, and maybe with a few friends?

I had always wanted to go to Pride-related things, but – I confess – I had always been too scared for some reason. I’ve tested the waters now, hopefully this means I might make it to more in the future.

Gregson Park as it turns out is close to both Hamilton and Broadmeadow, so I walked over to Broadmeadow station to catch the bus again. All of the station staff looking after the CCN line buses weren’t from the area and had the vibe of ‘not sure what’s going on they’ve got the spirit’. The bus ride back ended up being shorter than the 2 hours though, so the driver really stepped on it.

A fun day, and a fun experience. A lesson that I do need to try and get out of my comfort zone more.

Originally, I had intended to paint my nails the gay (men) and lesbian flags for GLO, in September this year. However – as these things usually are – I ran out of time before the event. I’ve painted my nails pride flag colours before, including the progress pride flag across both hands, and the trans flag. Now that I finally had an opportunity to paint – I suddenly had the thought, why not do something a bit more interesting?

This is where Stefanie / PolishedYogi’s Pride nails tutorial compilation video came in, which I had watched previously in June and which had been inspiration for the trans-flag coloured hearts. (However, in that case, I had a lot of staining on my nails, so I had to put down a beige creme layer first before I could proceed – which made that one a real struggle for me, since I find cremes difficult.)

This time, again I turned to Stefanie for inspiration (and to make sure I was painting the stripes on the right way) and picked the design I thought I might be able to pull off the best – as pretty much an absolute beginner.

I was so nervous about mucking up the whole hand, I just did the thumbs and then stopped while I was ahead – since they had already come out better than I expected. Next time I might try to pain the whole hand, if I have more time to work with. Unfortunately, I am always starting nail painting late in the evening; which means I end up painting late into the night and getting more and more exhausted…

The rest of the fingers were just basically themed “tiny trash” where I dumped as much glitter and holo as possible in a similar colour scheme.

The reason I decided to paint my nails pride flag colours is that I plan to go to Newcastle Pride Fair on 25 October 2025. I have never really, truly been to Newcastle before, so I’m really quite nervous about the whoel thing. However, I think it’ll be good to get out of my comfort zone for a bit.

Polishes used

I still only have a limited colour selection, but I did my best with the colours I had on hand. They don’t all really go together as they are a mix of different effects/finishes – I also just really don’t like working with cremes or looking at cremes, which can complicate things.

Left hand
Gay Flag: HT Teal With It, HT Moon Lagoon, HT Glazed Over, HT Vitamin Glow, HT Midnight Spark
Other nails: HT Precious Cargo (base), HT Lunar Unicorn Skin (topper), HT Sonic Unicorn Skin (topper)

Right hand
Lesbian Flag: HT I’m Rover It, Canmake N100 Friendship Bracelet, HT Glazed Over, HT What A Catch, Canmake N101 Chunky Mules
Other nails: HT Precious Cargo (base), HT Fallen Flake Taco (topper), HT Solar Unicorn Skin (topper)

Instagram Post: Showcase Post